


Touched by the Moon

by SnowMoonyx



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Yue lives, sokka/yue in the start, sort of canon compliant, white hair sokka
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:15:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25531201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowMoonyx/pseuds/SnowMoonyx
Summary: During the siege of the north when Yue is giving her life to the moon Sokka intervenes, in the process saving both her life and the koi's. His hairs turn white as the moon light up the world once more.Weeks later, when Zuko joins the gaang and slowly grows closer to Sokka, he can't take his eyes of the strands of pure white that Sokka tends to hide beneath dye and hats.And somewhere else the timid princess of the north is drawn to a girl dressed up in a warrior's getup, wielding fans as an extension of herself.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 42
Kudos: 230





	1. Chapter 1

She knew that one day she would have to repay her debt to the moon. She didn’t know how, didn’t know when, but every night the moon shone down on her, bathing her in gentle light the colour of her hair she was reminded of the debt resting on her shoulders, even heavier than the necklace wound tight around her neck.

Her name was Yue, and she had been saved by the moon the night she was born. Everything must come full circle one day, and during the night of the attack from the fire nation it seemed her debt would be paid in full.

The tremendous power Avatar Aang had displayed only seconds earlier when he merged with the ocean spirit, taking on the form of a giant koi still lingered in the air and the vivid glow of the water. Together they had rushed down the river into the canals of the city at the north pole, the water a wild beast as it threw itself over every enemy soldier it could find, drowning and killing and repaying the pain brought upon the spirit of the ocean as its moon was mercilessly ripped away.

Its moon. The white koi. The yang of the black koi’s yin, now lying lifelessly in the pond before them.

“You have been touched by the moon spirit,” the old man from the fire nation said, breaking the silence in the oasis, the place once thought to be the safest at the north pole. “Some of its life... is in you.”

Ah, she thought, realization dawning upon her in the tact of his words. So that was how she would give to the moon what she owed. “Yes,” she replied quietly, though her words carried through the air, almost harsh in the quiet of their bubble away from the destruction down in the city. “It gave me life. Maybe I can give it back.” 

Yue made up her mind then, seeing clear for the first time in her sixteen years of life. Sixteen years weren't a lot, but it was far more than what she originally had been meant to experience when she first had been born. She rose from the warm ground of the oasis, determination settling inside her. Then her arm was encircled by a soft hand, holding her back from her chosen fate.

“No! You don’t have to do that!” Sokka insisted, _pleaded_ from behind her. At that moment she’d love to give in and agree, just like when all those moments the two had spent time together and he questioned her betrothal, but this was beyond her. Beyond _them_. She couldn’t tamper with her destiny like that. Balance was a fragile thing, and a world without the moon would soon cease to exist. She had to act.

She breathed in the warm air, remembering her resolve. “It’s my duty Sokka.”

“I won’t let you!” he exclaimed in return, desperation slipping through the cracks of his words. “Your father told me to protect you!”

She wanted to cry then, wanted to give in and let him hold her, wanted to be selfish for once in the arms of someone who would let her put herself first. All her life she had played her part of the perfect compliant princess, never once speaking up against her elders, willing to agree to a betrothal only for the sake of not causing shame for her father. Her life was a borrowed one; she couldn’t step out of line with it. Least of all now, when all of the world depended on it. “I have to do this.” She stepped forward once more, her hand slipping out of Sokka’s; her last touch with another human.

She placed it with her other atop the white koi now resting in the hands of the old man, the burned scales slimy to the touch. Cold. Dead.

She was ready to give her life back to the moon, to repay her debt. The fish glowed beneath her fingers, mimicking the usual light of its celestial counterpart. Yue closed her eyes, expecting to never open them again. Her time here was up, and she had come to terms with it. 

She didn’t count on Sokka to gently take a hold of her right hand and lifting it from the koi.

She opened her eyes again at the unexpected turn of events, already feeling her strength slipping away as she looked down to see her hand being replaced by his. The fish was still glowing, maybe even brighter than before with the strength of two instead of one placed atop it. She looked up at Sokka kneeling firmly beside her like he dared anyone to speak up against his actions, determination in his eyes as his hand laid rigidly beside hers, their thumbs overlapping.

And as she observed him in silent reverence at his bravery stemming from nothing but his love for her Sokka’s hair started to change. Just like how it had happened to her sixteen years ago the colour of moonlight bled into his dark locks from the roots of his hair and creeping all the way to the tips, leaving him with strands of pure white, the dark brown of earth swallowed by snow.

Sokka turned gentle eyes towards her, and somehow managed a small smile even though Yue was certain he felt just as weak as she did by now. _I promised to protect you,_ he had said. And maybe he was the type to keep a promise no matter what, even if it meant giving half of his strength to a dead fish.

The koi moved beneath the tips of their fingers, squirming around. The moon spirit had been brought back to life. It jumped out from all of their hands into the spirit pond, and light from the moon spilled across them once more. She hardly had the time to take delight in it before darkness and gravity both called upon her.

She fell to the grass-clad ground with Sokka mimicking her as the light of the moon was replaced with darkness once more.


	2. Chapter 2

The moon gives. The moon takes. It pushes and pulls at the Ocean, always keeping it in motion. Always circling in the spirit pond with the yin to its yang, two koi in an eternal dance.

The moon takes. But the moon also gives.

~*~*~

When they were younger, Sokka’s sister had a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night when the moon was full. She’d giggle, getting up from her cot and run outside to play in its gentle light, barely dressed for the cold weather as she’d bend the water from the ocean. Hadoka would indulge her in it, and Sokka would run outside too, if only to play with his family, if only to laugh a bit more as he threw snowballs after his father. Katara always found it easier to bend at night, which was how their ritual under the moon started, but when they were kids they didn’t pay it much thought, didn't guess at how bending could be connected to celestial objects. 

But then when they grew older their father left for war. Still, Katara woke up at the next full moon like she had an ingrained calendar in her head, and Sokka followed her outside. He wouldn’t leave here alone these days, in fear she’d be taken away from him too. If she absolutely had to play with magic water in the dead of night the least he could do what to protect her.

Surprisingly that night, at the first full moon since the men of their tribe left for war, they found gran gran bathed in the pale shimmering light at the highest top in their village She didn't look shocked to see them. In fact, she waved them over to sit down with her on the warm pelts spread on the snow, like she had been expecting them despite never being outside with them at night before. So they settled down on each of her side, if a bit confused at the situation.

And just like old people enjoyed to do she offered them obscure wisdom only obtained after years of living, turning their heads up to look at the celestial body spread light at night.

“The moon,” gran gran had started, a certain weight to her words that the inexperienced Sokka hadn’t recognized, “is a benevolent spirit. It's connected to the customs of both our tribe and to the one at the North Pole. It's a waterbender in its own rights, and a protector of our people. It pulls and pushes at the Ocean, and with it pulls and pushes at us. The ocean decides how the world is shaped to a degree, and the moon that wields it influences it in turn. The moon takes through the ocean. It takes land, it takes everything that makes their way to the water of the rivers and the sea connecting all land. It also gives. It gives a place for fish to live and for us to feed, it gives a certain sense of security, separating us from others. That's life, kids. Life gives and takes. It took your mother, and it brought your father to war. But hold on to it long enough, and eventually it will give you something too."

Her words didn't offer much sense to them, and Sokka and Katara exchanged a shrug behind her back, sure she was only talking crazy. 

But a couple years later they found Avatar Aang, rising from the depths of the ocean the moon controlled, breaking free from an iceberg. Sokka first remembered gran gran's words when the three of them rode on Appa's back towards the far away tribe of the North Pole, and he couldn't help but ponder at her words then.

The moon had given them the Avatar. Would it demand something from them in return? Or was this its way of giving after taking away their father over the seas?

Then he shrugged, laying her words to rest. His grandma probably didn't know what she was talking about anyway, all mindless blabber.

He directed his eyes towards the horizon, and his mind to the long journey before them.

~*~*~

The moon gives. But the moon also takes.

~*~*~

_ When he laid his hand on the fish, giving it his strength he felt cold. A freezing sensation entering him from the koi through his hand, chasing away any form of warmth he had within. Spreading through his chest first in the thin strings of a spiderweb, then wider, in the form of a fishnet, and then even more until he had nothing left to give- _

"-okka? Are you awake?"

Something cold gently ran over his brows, a calming soothing sensation easing the pounding in his head, chasing away the memory of dying. It was the first thing he noticed as the firm hold the darkness had on him slowly let go, letting him slip from its cold grasp. His body felt weird, somehow, an aching sensation that stemmed from far within. It reminded him a little of all the times he had taken his training a bit too far back home, or in the aftermath of one of the many battles they had fought since first making their way towards the Northern tribe. Yet the aching wasn't limited to just his bones and muscles. It laid deeper. It laid within his soul.

He didn't notice that his body had tensed up as he tried to place the source of the pain, but when the soothing cold on his brow expanded and circulated once more over his skin he was surprised to find his body relax in response. The cold of the wet cloth was still warmer than the freezing touch of the moon.

He sunk back into the soft mattress beneath his body, almost a worthy competitor against Appa's fur. A thick duvet was draped up to his chest, it's warmth and weight now almost suffocating as he paid it notice for the first time. 

A soft whine escaped his lips at that, at the warmth that was too much now that the moon had connected with him.

"Sokka. I know you're awake," came a soft but stern voice in response to his moan, so woefully alike their late mother in the way it rose and fell at certain syllables. Scornful, but kind. 

There was no point keeping still now.

He drew a deep breath, fighting the thick duvet, and opened his eyes to a room bathed in the golden orange of a late sun setting. He easily located eyes the colour of the ocean set above pursed lips leaning slightly over him, framed with dark brown locks the the very same as his own, probably fanned all over the pillow at the moment.

She was gently guiding the soothing water across his brow, the source of his slight solace but now that he had opened his eyes she disposed of it in an ornate bowl placed on a table by the bed. He missed the cool touch at once.

"Hey Katara," he said. At least he tried to, but his dry throat sent him into a mild coughing fit. He sat up in the bed far grander than any he had slept in before, letting the fit pass as Katara rubbed his back. When it eventually subsided she handed him a glass of water standing ready on the table, helping him holding it steady as he drank the cool liquid.

At least she didn't bend the water straight into his mouth. That would be embarrassing and definitely a compromise of his pride.

A million questions ran through his brain, like what had the outcome of the siege been, or if Aang was alright, but the first that slipped past his lips was a selfish one. "Wh… where is Yue?"

Katara smiled, though it seemed a little strained judging by the slight wobble of her lips. "Don't worry, she's resting in her chambers. She woke up a couple hours before you did. Her father don’t want her to get up just yet." 

Then Katara's smile fell, and Sokka's head jumped to a million different conclusions, each one more horrendous than the last as Katara placed the glass back on the table. What had happened in the aftermath of the siege? What had happened while he was unconscious? Had they lost too many? Had he been asleep for too long and taken away far too much of their precious time before the comet would arrive? Had the fire nation somehow conquered-

Katara surprised him. Before he could process it she had already flung her arms around him, holding him tight tight tight against her chest. "I thought I'd lost you," she confessed, voice suddenly small, her body shaking. "You were both so still, so pale,  _ so cold _ . I thought you were both gone."

Sokka felt a pang of guilt exploding in his chest. He had almost left his baby sister alone in this world, with only Aang at her side far, far away from home. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered back, tightening his arms around her in return, holding her close as she shook, trying to picture how it would be had he lost  _ her  _ out here, but finding the mere thought of it far too horrendous. "I really am. But I just couldn't let Yue offer herself like that. It wouldn't be fair, not to her, and not to the chief. I made a promise, and I just couldn't break it."

Katara laughed a little, a wet sound that sounded more like a sob. "Of course you'd keep it. Even so, when the two of you collapsed I was so scared Sokka. Don't you ever do anything like that again."

Sokka cracked a smile as Katara released her hold on him, leaning back to look him in the eyes, her own rimmed with red. "As long as the moon is still shining, I won't. I-I promise you."

Katara wiped a hand over her face, smiling a little in return. "I'll keep you to it."

"I know you will."

"Your new hair suits you by the way," Katara said shortly after, calmer now. The same couldn't be said for Sokka, an uncomfortable feeling settling in his chest at her startling words.

"My-my hair? I still have my hair, don't I?" He raised a hand to his head, mapping out his hair with his hand. The short buzz of his undercut was still there. The long hair was still there. But when he brushed his hand through his loose locks a few strands fell forward, dangling in front of his eyes and teasing him. 

White. The strands were white.

"...Why did you glue some of Appa's fur onto my head?" That was the only logical explanation he had as he sat frozen in the bed, staring and staring at the hair that refused to change colour no matter how hard he willed it too.

"What?" Katara said, tilting her head before something dawned upon her. "Wait, you don't know." Sokka saw her look around, trying to locate… Something. Eyes locked on something and she stood up to get it as she explained. 

"Yesterday, when you helped Yue save the spirit of the moon, something happened to you. Just like it did with Yue when she was born, the moon spirit turned your hair white." She came back, handing him a small hand-held mirror. "I think it looks nice on you."

Sokka took the mirror with hands that shook more than he was willing to admit, holding it up in front of him as he tried to process her words.

The man in the mirror looking back at him was a stranger. 

He shared the same tan skin as him, had the same blue eyes. He even had faint freckles spread all over, and the scar across his nose he from when he was ten. He was so similar to himself that he could've been his twin hadn't it been for one thing.

The man in the mirror had white hair. Pure white hair the colour of snow. The same colour that framed Yue's face.

“This isn’t me,” he exclaimed, looking back at Katara, “You’re tricking me, right?”

Katara tilted her head. “Tricking you? Why would I do that? I don’t get your reaction at all. Your hair turned white. That’s it.”

That’s it, huh. But how could he explain his thoughts to his sister when he didn’t understand them himself?

He imagined the men of their tribe. All dark brown hair, all strong fighters, all the same. All of them, leaving him behind to protect the village, the one that was different and lousier at fighting, though Sokka knew the only reason he had to stay was because his father didn’t trust him in battle. What else could it be? He hadn’t stood a chance when the castaway prince had decided to pay them a visit.

And now his hair was white, setting him further apart from the typical characteristics of a warrior of their tribe. It wasn’t a big deal, for some it might even be a sign of honor to bear the mark of a spirit, something to be cherished. 

But that should be reserved for someone like Yue, who had been important from the moment she was born. Her white her was something that set her apart in a  _ good  _ way. Fit for royalty, fit for a princess.

Sokka from the South Pole with white hair however? That wasn’t a combination meant to fit.

He handed Katara the mirror, and reached for the tie on the table, binding his hair back where he didn’t have to see it. 

“So? Where’s Aang?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am?? So sorry?? I really want to write this fic, but I feel terrible for being so slow at updating!
> 
> If you wonder why I'm so slow my life had been a bit stressful lately. I finally got a job after six months of unemployment (which is great!), but I need to move 600 kilometres for it. Something I don't mind, but it's been super hard to get a place to live, and the days keeps passing, and I've been a ball of anxiety every time someone tell me no. Whenever I've tried to write for this fic my thoughts kept circling back to my disastrous attempts at finding an apartment. Hopefully, after flying down on Wednesday I'll get a place to live (crossing my fingers!), and it'll be easier to find the headspace to write. But until all of this has fallen into place updates will sadly be slow :c

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a while now that mostly centers around Sokka having white hair and everything it will impact. Eventually it'll become Zukka :) You can read all my thoughts on the idea here: https://snowmoonyx.tumblr.com/post/624507735300521984/alright-royalty-sokka-with-white-hair-is
> 
> Also, if you're curious, I've drawn Sokka with white hair! https://moonyxart.tumblr.com/post/624097506818719744/sokka-with-white-hair-is-such-a-good-concept
> 
> (and I'm really slow at updating, I'm so sorry about that!)


End file.
